Heating system



Nov. 5, 1935. H. s. KEHM n HEATING- SYSTEM ,med not; 1s, 195s Patented Nov.' 5,

UNITED STATES -P'IATENT ori-lcs amm a Appunti October 13, 1.33, Sellll N0. 693,429

l chiral. .(CL 1374-1.)

'This invention relates in general to a heating system and is particularly concerned with improvements in heating systems of the type wherein the circulation of hot water is utilized to trans- 5 ferthe hat energy from a boiler to remotely located radiating means.. It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a combined house and domestichot Water heating system which may be utilized for l simultaneously furnishing heat and domestic hot water, and is so arranged that the' system may be easily and quickly adapted to economically and eillciently furnishsdcomestic hot water only. A

It is a further object of the invention to pro- 15 vide a heating system wherein the entire supply -of hot water from the boiler passes through a v domestic hot water heating device and is automaticallyv diverted into parallel paths and returned to the boiler, one of these paths being pro- -20 vided with valve means operable to obstruct the now in its associated path, whereby theentire iiow from the boiler may be caused to pass through the hot water heating device and return to the boiler through the other o! the paral- 25 lel paths. y

It is a further object of the herein described invention to provide in a heating system having a domestic hot water heater of the indirect type so connected as to utilize hot water from the boiler, s0 means whereby the hot waterafter through theI heater may be forcibly circulated upon demand through a remote heat radiating device land returned to the boiler without interfering with the functioning of the domestic -hot 35' water heating device.

It is also an object of this invention to provide in a combined house and domestic hot water heating system; means whereby hot'water from a boiler may be caused to flow by gravity through 40 the 'hot water heating portion of the system and may be forcibly circulated upon demand through the housev heating portion of the system.

Still another object resides in the provision of an improved heating system which is economical 45 to install, which is devoid of checkfvalves,

operatedvalves and the like, which is eflicient in operation, and wherein the hot water from the boiler is positively circulated through the radiators, thereby enabling the radiators to be placed 60 \below the boiler, if desired.

In accordance with the general ieatins of the present system, it is proposed to provide a single to' uw mam :seemed through a. domestic 'hun water heater of the indirect type. and the ends ,of the main loop are shunted by aconduit. It

will be observed that with such a system the main at each radiator also constitutes a shunt or bypass for the radiators. A pump is disposed outside the local circuit of the domestic hot water heater through the shunt conduit, this pump being actuatable upon deman'd to forcibly 'circulate hot water through the radiator loop main. 10 It will be noted that vif the suppLv and 'return risers of the radiators and the shunt conduit between the ends ofthe looped main were.connected in T-iittings in the usual manner, there,l would be very little hot water circulated through the radiators and this shunt due to its velocity past the risers and shunt connections. To overcome this diiliculty means are provided at the end connections of the shunt and the ends of the risers which are connected to the main for v automatically deilecting a portion of. the ilow or hot water through the radiators and through the conduit shunt as will be more fully explained in the following description.

Other objects and features of this invention will more-fully appear from the following detailed -description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a single embodiment thereof, and in which f Flgure 1 is a'diagrammatic view of a single 30 pipe hot water heating system embodying the features oi this invention,

Figure 21s an enlarged fragmentary sectional detailed view illustrating the-joint connection between one end of. a shunting conduit and the boiler outlet connection to the heating system main, taken substantially von line II--II of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a similar-view illustrating the joint connection between the other end of the shunting conduit and the inlet connection to the boiler from the heating system main, taken vsubstantially on line III- III of Figure 1.

`As shown on the drawing:

. In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention there is shown in Figure 1 a boiler ill which is connected at its outlet to one end of a singleV pipe main il which is formed into a loop and is connected at its otherv end to the inlet of the boiler. Althougha plurality of radiators such as shown at I2 may be connected to the main Il, it is not thought necessary to illustrate each radiator and. for this reason only one is shown as being connected to the main. 'I'he 5 5 radiators are each connected to the main through a supply riser I3 and a return riser I4.

At theboiler there is provided in the outlet connection of the main from the boiler a domestic hot water heating device generally indicated at I5 and comprising a tank IB having an inlet connection II for cold water and an outlet connection I8 by means of which the heated water may be carried to any desired xture. Inside the tank the fluid flowing from the boiler passes through a heating coil I9, whereby the water within the tank for the domestic hot water sup'- ply is indirectly heated.

Adjacent the outlet side of the hot water heating device, the main II is connected to one end of a conduit 20 having its other end connected into the boiler inlet connection of the main, the conduit 2D thereby forming a bypass or shunt connection between-the ends of the looped main I I, which is outside the hot water heating device i5.

In order to prevent the circulation of hot water through the main II by gravity, a trap 2-I is provided at the supply end of the main II adjacent its connection to the shuntingvconduit 20. This trap is of a smaller section of pipe than the main so as to form a contracted passageway for normally retarding the flow of hot water into the house heating portion of the system. Valves 22 and 23 are respectively provided in the supply and return connections of the main to the boiler so that the house heating portion of the system may be rendered ineffective by the closure of these valves, when it is not desired to use the house heating portion of the system.

It will be observed that gravity iow is not depended upon for circulating the hot water through the house heating portion of the system and for this purpose, a pump 24 is provided in the return connection of the main I I to the boiler. While this pump may be driven by any appropriate power means, it is preferred to drive the pump through the agency of an electric motor which is energized from suitable power source through conductors 25 and 26. A thermostatically actuated switch 2'! is provided with contacts to control the operation of the motor in response to changes of temperature at the point where the thermostatic switch may be located. It is preferable to mount this switch at a point where the average room temperature will be that which is desired to be maintained.

For controlling the temperature of heated water from the boiler, a suitable aquastat 28 is provided at the outlet connection of the main to the boiler. 'Ihis aquastat may be of any appropriate design or construction and is provided with contacts for opening and closing an electrical circuit 29 which may form a part of the control system of a. gas valve, oil burner motor or other means for ring the boiler.

An expansion tank 30, of the ordinary type is connected through a pipe 3I'to the connection of the main II to thefoutlet ofthe boiler. As in the ordinary heating system, the expansion ytank should be placed at a height above the eleyation of the highest radiator' of the system.

Since the heated boiler water is forcibly circulated by means of the pump 24, it is impracticable to use ordinary T-connections for the shunt conduit 20 and for the connection of the supply and return risers of-the radiators to the main. The joint generally indicated at 32 will be more clearly understood by reference to Figure 2.

In this case a T-shaped tting 33 of conventional type is provided having aligned threaded openings 34 and 35 and a lateral branch opening 36 which would be connected to a shunt conduit 20 or, if this tting is installed in connection with the radiators, to the riser supply connection I3 at each radiator. Inlet to the T is through the main II which is threaded into the opening 35. In the opening 34 there is threadedly inserted a plug 3'I having an eccentrically disposed bore 38 which terminates in a prolonged tubular extension 39 which projects past the lateral branch connection of the T. It will be observed that the axis of the bore of the plug 31 is disposed below the axisl of the main II and that the outer end of this plug is4 threaded to receive a section of the main II. With this arrangement, water approaching from the left as indicated by the arrow in Figure 2 passes into the T and meets the obstruction formed by the plug with the result that the water readily flows the same as shown in Figure 2 except that in- .tension being disposed below the axis of the main II, the axis of the bore and tubular extension are disposed above the axis of the main II.

With water flowing from the tubular extension 39 from the left as indicated by the arrow, there will be little or no tendency for water to pass upwardly in the branch connection 2U. The tubular extension will direct the water owing therethrough, which will be hotter than that returning through the branch conduit 20, along the upper portion of the main for permitting the cooler water from the branch connection to follow its natural tendency to descend to the bottom of the main with less than normal resistance. Since the tubular extension 39 is disposed towards the upper portion of the main I I, any flow of water in the reverse direction will tend to be retarded from owing in the opposite direction through the branch connection by virtue of the obstruction afforded by the plug and tubular extension.

'Ihe operation of the system` of my invention will now be described:

Assuming that lt is desired to simultaneously heat the radiators and provide domestic hot water, the valves 22 and 23 should be in open position. The aquastat 28 will be set at a predetermined temperature of, for example, to depending on the need for domestic hot water. This aquastat will control the boiler to give uniformlyheated boiler water which circulates by gravity through the coil I9 of the hot water heater I5. Upon emerging, the water ls substantially all deected at joint 32 through the conduit 20 and thence thru joint 40 back into. the boiler. 'Ihe choke or trap/2| operates in conjunction with joint 32 to retard circulation of the hot water in the house'heating portion of the system until such time as there is a call for heat therein. t will be observed that in the above descri y operation of this portion of the system. boiler "water is connned to the boiler and domestic hot water heater until .the thermostat 21 calls for heat.

As soon as the room thermostat operates, its contacts are closed and the'pump 24 is energized to force hot water tb all radiators at once and back into the boiler through joint 40 which prevents backfup of water into the conduit 20.

'Thus an abundant supply of domestic hot water time, to have domestic hot ,water without the necessity of operating the house heating portion of the system, the valves 22 and 23 are closed.

.By this simple operation, the circulation of boiler hot water is confined to the boiler and domestic hot water heater, the lentire ow passing through conduit 20 and being circulated by gravity. As in the previous case the temperature of the water is automatically controlled through the aquastat 28.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the present invention provides an improved heating system which may be utilized to simultaneously furnish domestic hotv water and heat to the radiators and is so arranged that it may be quickly adapted to furnish domestic hot water only; a system which is economical to install, which is devoid of check valves, motor operated valves and the like, which is efficient Ain operation, and wherein the hot I ywater is positively circulated from the boiler to the radiators so that the radiators and boiler will operate` at their greatest eiiiclency.

Now, it is of course, to be understood that although I have described in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention, the invention is not to be thus limited but only insofar as dened bythe scope and spirit of the appended4 claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hot water heating system comprising a v boiler, a domestic water heater connectedto said boiler by a first pipe loop comprising a first feed and a rst return pipe, a hot water radiator connected shunting a portionof said first return pipe by a second pipe loop comprising a second feed and a second return pipe, a water trap in said second feed pipe adjacent its pointvof connection with said first return pipe and disposed to provide a water column below said point of connection, apump for intermittent duty in said second return pipe, and stationary 110W restricting and directing-means in said second feed pipe at its connection with said rst return pipe and also in said second return pipe at its connection with said rst return pipe.

2. A hot water heating system comprising a boiler, a domestic water heater connected to said boiler by a first pipe loop comprising a first feed and a rst return pipe, a hot-water radiator connected shunting a portion of said first return pipe by a second pipe loop comprising a second feed and a second return pipe, a water trap in said second pipe loop including a conduit having a predetermined smaller bore than that of the main run of pipe in the loop so as to form a contracted passageway for normally retarding the flow of hot water to the radiator, a pump for intermittent duty in said second return pipe, and stationary flow restricting and directing means Vin s'nid second feed pipe at its connection with said first return pipe and also in said second return pipe at its connection with said first return pipe.

HORACE S. KEHM. 

